A former light-heavyweight, the well-rounded Brazilian made a successful middleweight debut and edged Simpson for a close split-decision victory.

The main-card bout was part of UFC on FUEL TV 1 at Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. It aired on FUEL TV following a preliminary card on Facebook.

Markes jumped out to an early lead and briefly wobbled Simpson with some accurate lunging punches. Simpson, though, quickly regrouped and dropped him with a stiff right uppercut, and he followed him to the mat with a quick barrage of punches. Simpson couldn’t get the stoppage, and Markes soon forced a standup. The entertaining round ended in an exchange of strikes.

In the second round, Markes landed with low kicks as Simpson popped him with counter-rights. After some exchanges, Simpson secured the clinch and worked to get the fight to the mat, but Markes overpowered him and got the trip-takedown. Once there, Simpson ate some punches but got back to his feet before the round ended.

With the fight likely tied, both fighters unloaded haymakers before resetting. After extended battles for position from the clinch, Simpson landed punches while Markes worked knees. Simpson attempted a takedown but ate a punch and slipped on the way down, and Markes ultimately scored the bout’s final takedown in a pivotal final minute of the fight.

The fight was a virtual toss-up, and the judges ultimately favored Markes via 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 scores.

“It took a lot of determination to come in here and put on a good show for you guys,” said Markes, who then campaigned for a spot on an upcoming card in Brazil.

Markes (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), yet another prospect from Brazil’s Nova Uniao camp, now owns six straight victories, which included a decision win over light heavyweight Karlos Vemola in his UFC debut back in August.

Simpson (11-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), meanwhile, snaps a three-fight win streak that had put him back into title contention.